Carlos Eduardo Fuquene-Retamoso’s research while affiliated with Pontifical Xavierian University and other places

The mitigation and prevention of environmental impacts is still a challenge for most companies, especially for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The literature shows that researchers are paying attention to the concept of eco-efficiency, and that companies are making significant efforts to develop sustainable methodologies, as a result of consumer pressure or for government enforcement reasons. However, there is still a lack of concrete initiatives implemented at SME level. The aim of this paper is to present a conceptual framework that may be used to examine to what extent SMEs understand the eco-efficiency concept and implement sustainability strategies. This has been achieved through the identification of the following four specific factors: availability of an environmental management system, environmental knowledge, organizational culture, and environmental monitoring and control. The limitations and research gaps in the specific context have been analyzed, and a conceptual framework that allows the eco-efficiency implementation to be assessed has been proposed. An exploratory study has been carried out on 17 wood industry SMEs from Bogotá, Colombia. The results show that most SMEs are unaware of the existing sustainability strategies and environmental practices. Nevertheless, all the SMEs agreed that the environment requires more attention and they are therefore interested in sustainability strategies to help decrease their negative impact and increase their cost-effectiveness and competitiveness.

This paper establishes an environmental impact assessment applied to brass threaded unions. Two different scenarios were analyzed based on the amount of material used in the process: i) 100% virgin raw material usage and ii) 92.3% of recycled material usage. For the analysis and environmental impact evaluation, this study made use of the life cycle assessment methodology (LCA). It also used Ecoindicator 99 for grading impact, as well as the computer tool Simapro® for calculations. When a composition of 100% virgin raw material was used, significant impacts were identified on mineral extraction and air suspended inorganic material categories. For 92.3% of recycled material, major effects were related to air suspended organic material and impact category related to acidification/ eutrophication. The comparison of both scenarios made it possible to detect an impact attenuation in mineral extraction and air suspended inorganic material categories. As a consequence of using recycled material in the product, a significant global impact reduction of 231% in terms of Pt was noticed.

This work proposes a new procedure for enhancing the monitoring of industrial processes in organizations with highly integrated systems. Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) permit an effective integration between Enterprise Resource Planning software and Flexible Manufacturing Systems at the shop floor. Based on a previously-developed integration between these two systems, a MES layer-based procedure for Statistical Process Control (SPC) is developed. This piece of software solves problems such as connectivity, data acquisition and alarm-based data analysis based on both control specifications and limits and cause-analysis through decision trees. This work can be part of any process and does not require any additional MES software, which reduces costs and maintenance. This software was tested through an artificial-vision-based quality control station with mechanic parts automated through an FMS system.